


Summer town.

by JamieLegend



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Childhood Sweethearts, F/M, Fluff, Meeting Again, finished work, so soft, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-07-07 11:36:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15907494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamieLegend/pseuds/JamieLegend
Summary: Kiku Honda is a doctor who is trying to find his real place in the world, but when he gets a call about his grandmother's illness, he hurries to the small town on an even smaller island where he reopens old wounds and relieves even older memories of a girl that lived down the road. Will the memories just stay that? Or is there a chance for a second chance in this summer town?





	1. Back at the Start.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thank you for reading!  
> A quick note to mention: I use the name Kiku Honda for Japan and Hui Fang Lin ( Lin being her surname) for Taiwan. Thank you again and enjoy the show!

There was a flower shop.

It was a nice, little place, wedged in between two large buildings. Its insides always looked homely and sweet – the flowers seemed to burst from every corner of it.

Kiku always looked at it whenever he passed by.

It was such a sweet little place, overflowing with flowers. It reminded him of his summers spent in Okinawa.

Ah.

Shaking his head, the young man hurried along the street. He didn't want to be late for work. He never was late to work, but he knew that if he stood at that corner reminiscing about a childhood gone by, he would be standing there forever.

The work in a hospital never stops. You have to run from one corner of the wing to the other, all the while helping people who need you the most. By the time he was finished with work, he was exhausted beyond belief.

On his way home from work, the flower shop would be closed, the blinds would be drawn and all those lovely flowers he saw when he was coming in would be gone.

Still, when he got home that night he couldn't stop thinking about that flower shop and about that small village in Okinawa.

He was woken up from his thoughts by his phone ringing. Looking down, Kiku answered it, as he went to sit down by his table.

“Ah. Mom – I didn’t expect you to call.”

His mother’s replies were only soft sobs.

The next day he was on his plane to Okinawa.

Kiku was an only child. He was born into a family of hard workers – his mother worked as a teacher her whole life and his father worked in a company. They gave everything they earned into his education, but every summer, Kiku would go and stay at his grandmother’s place in Okinawa.

Those were always the very best days of the year.

He loved his parents, of course, he did, but he always knew that he was their project. But his grandmother never treated him like one. She was kind, welcoming, and would let him scrape his knees and go out playing.

She was the one that introduced him to her.

She lived a few houses away from his and her Japanese was very weak when he met her. She wasn’t Japanese, not really – her father was Chinese and they lived in Taiwan, but she would come every summer to Okinawa to spend time with her late mother’s parents.

She was everything Kiku was not.

As he settled in his plane seat, Kiku tried to remember how she looked like. They hadn’t seen each other in ten years now… She must have finished university by now. After all, she was just two and a half years younger than him. She was slender and short, with hair that went almost all the way to her waist.

Hui Fang really grew up to be a pretty girl.

Once his plane landed, Kiku rented a car to drive to his grandmother’s village. His mother was already there, nursing his… dying grandmother. She told him that she doesn’t have much time left and that her dying wish was to see her lovely grandson.

So, he drove there, remembering how he used to drive here as a child, sitting in his neighbor’s car with his grandmother holding his backpack so he could lean to the window and watch the scenery pass him by.

It was odd – being back here.

As he pulled up, he glanced back to the house where she used to stay in. The windows were open so… ah, he didn’t come here for her.

His mother came out of the house when he got out of the car. The woman that was never much for physical affection hurried over to him and hugged him tightly.

The room his grandmother was in was open and she was laying there, propped up on many pillows, making her look even smaller than she really was.

The old lady turned her head to look over to him, before smiling. “Ahh… If it isn’t my lovely grandson? Look – you’re all handsome now.”

Kiku swallowed a chuckle and went to sit down next to her bedside. “Hello.” He reached out and took her hand. “How are you doing, grandma?”

“Well, I’ve had better days.” The woman chuckled and patted his hand. “But seeing you makes me feel a lot better.”

Kiku smiled softly at the old woman and rubbed her hand.

“Now, now, I want to know all about your life. When are you bringing me a daughter-in-law? Hm? I always hoped it would be that dear girl from down the street…”

Kiku choked up in surprise, a nervous laugh escaping him as he looked to the side. “Grandma, no, I – I am very busy in the hospital.”

“Ah. Don’t be like your mother, my dear boy.” The woman said softly, watching her grandson with so much love that Kiku’s heart squeezed in his chest. “Work is great, and I am so proud of you, but love? Oh, we live for love. You know how much I loved your grandpa?”

Kiku smiled and tilted his head. “I never heard how you two met, grandma.”

“Us?” She laughed, and Kiku could see that she was looking somewhere, somewhere so far away, someplace where he could have never been. “We met at the beach, my boy. He came here with his family and well – he never left. He stayed here with me, left his banking job… He learned how to fish, built this house with my father… We raised your mother here, watched her stumble and grow.” She smiled and squeezed Kiku’s hand tightly. “My darling husband. Oh, he loved you too, so much – you know he did. He said that every summer you came here, watching you run around and be such a happy child… he said he wished we had enough money to have more kids. More darling boys like you and beautiful girls like your mother. But, you will have your kids and you will know how they get-“

Kiku smiled, watching her talk. He noticed she got tired with her talk and as if on cue, his mother stepped in, asking if the older woman would like some tea. In the end, Kiku volunteered to go and make the tea for his grandmother, but by the time he brought it up, the old lady was asleep.

His mother told him to leave it by her bedside, and the two went downstairs. His mother looked exhausted, yet she reached out to him, hugging her son tightly.

Kiku didn’t know what to do except that he should hold her back.

In the evening, he was going through some pictures. His mother was close to him, watching old pictures of her then young parents, her small self, and in the end pictures of her little boy.

“Oh, isn’t that little girl that old friend of yours? Ah, what was her name again? Hu..”

“Hui Fang.” Kiku quietly replied while looking at the picture of the two of them in this same living room. Her and her wide smile with him looking embarrassed to be on the picture.  
“That’s right. What a sweet girl. Whatever happened with the two of you? Didn’t you two do that ah…”

“Pass it on diary.” He finished up her sentence, nodding. “I suggested it. She wanted to work on her written Japanese so we shared a diary. She would write in it for half a year, and then mail it to me.”

“That’s it! What a good girl. She lived in Taiwan, didn’t she?”

Kiku nodded and turned a page, seeing the last picture there. It was a picture of his grandparents, now old and grey, with him and her at the summer festival. Ah.

“Why did you two stop writing in it? I remember you always made sure to pick a pretty notebook because you knew how picky she could be.”

Kiku smiled weakly, despite not wanting to.

He was seventeen then and she was just about to turn fifteen. It would be her job to get a new notebook, and yet… on the last page, he confessed. He told her he likes her.

He remembered being that nervous teenager, staring at that final blank page. He remembered wiping it a few times because his handwriting was shaky. He didn’t want it to be shaky and look stupid.

He never received a reply.

That summer he was too embarrassed to go there. And the summer after that, he was working on his university applications. After that, grandpa died so his grandma was staying with them that summer.

He didn’t see her since then.

She must have really disliked him.

The next day, he helped his grandmother in a wheelchair and pushed her along the coast. The old lady was quiet, just enjoying the summer breeze.

As they walked, they ran into a familiar face.

Hui Fang’s grandfather.

“My, my-“ The old man spoke, in surprise. “Could it be our young Kiku, all grown up?” He said after greeting his grandmother warmly.

Kiku nodded and bowed his head slightly in respect. “Mister Saito. It is very nice to see you again.”

“Oh, it is so good to see you too- it’s been so long, hasn’t it? Tell me, how come you stopped visiting all of us? I thought you really enjoyed it. My darling girl always wondered why you never came around.”

Kiku was a bit surprised with that. Here he thought… ah, maybe the man was just being polite.

“Now, now, my dear Asahi – you know that my grandson was in the best university for medicine! Learning how to save lives, no less. Now he works in the best hospital in Tokyo! But he made time to see his old grandma.” His grandmother turned to gently pat her grandson’s hand, before looking back at the old man.

The man chuckled, shaking his head. “Yes, yes, must have slipped my mind. How long will you be staying, dear boy?”

“For two more days, I think. Most likely, yes.”

The man nodded slowly, before smiling to the two. “Well, I don’t want to keep you. And there’s a call I have to make.”

After the man left, Kiku leaned down to ask his grandmother something that weighed on him. “… Hui Fang kept coming here?”

His grandmother looked confused before sighing. “You know, I always asked you to come. Even just for a weekend.”

Kiku sighed before getting up and going back to pushing her along the coast.

“After all, that girl had something she wanted to give you in person.”


	2. Found You In The End.

A single airplane flies across the bright blue sky.

Its white residue cuts through the cyan sky that stretches across every inch of her window. A sky that calls her to leave, to get out of her office. If anything she wants to get up, take her bag and run out to get on her moped so she can drive to meet it.

She wanted to find something special, something wondrous, something above her mundane life.

Finally, the young girl is shaken from her thoughts by a phone going off on her desktop. Her soft eyes fall on it, surprised to see that the caller ID showed a picture of her grandparents, smiling up to her. Quickly, she answers with a chipper hello.

It took her only three hours to run into an airplane of her own.

The moment the young girl fell into her seat, her heart started to only then calm down. A flight to a small island where she could see her grandparents and well – him.

Kiku Honda.

What a nostalgic feeling that settled on her chest it was, to remember him! Her silly childhood friend with whom she would play every summer. She still could remember their adventures, climbing in the trees in their attempts to find those crickets, their adventures at the seaside where they would make their sandcastles, learn how to swim and play. A time where she didn’t have to worry about her student debt, bills, or how to climb the company ladder so that she can earn enough to open her small flower shop.

And Kiku.

Still, she remembered that day when he bought a notebook for them and explained to her what it would serve. A pass-it-on diary where they would write what happens to them for half a year, and then send it to the other person, only to rejoin again in summer to talk all about it.

Hui Fang’s first crush.

Hui Fang was always a rather odd child. She was the only girl in her class without a mother, the girl who was every teacher’s favourite because of her soft, happy attitude. Still, she had an interest in other people and never really understood the idea of ‘personal space’ or ‘keeping a distance’. She wanted to know everything about everyone all the time. People deemed her as odd. Cute, but odd. 

Kiku never seemed to look at her like she was odd. When she’d climb a tree, he’d be just worried she’d fall and hurt herself, instead of wondering why she was so odd. Though he was a rather shy boy, he never had an issue explaining things to her when she asked, no matter how odd.

And as they grew up, she noticed how handsome he was becoming. He was still just as gentle and as kind as when they were really little, but now she would always jump and down on her trip to her grandparent’s home in hopes she’d see him soon. 

The moment they’d see each other, she’d run to hug him.

Always running to meet him.

She always put in a lot of effort in their diaries. She would make sure her writing was nice – Japanese writing was always hard for her, but she tried, and most importantly she’d make nice doodles, use the best pens and the cutest stickers. It was her biggest and favourite project. And besides, she loved reading his thoughts.

Maybe the best part was when they would get a blanket, make lunch and go to the beach together to read through their adventures. She’d act out some of her favourite scenes that she wrote out, and seeing him chuckle was always worth it.

It was always so perfect.

When she started high school, she had a few boys tell her they like her. Always blushing, she’d reject them. After all, Hui Fang left her heart in one small, summer town.

One day, she heard her package from Japan came so she ran down to pick it up from her father who always saw it as adorable that she was so tied to this boy.

She remembered making herself some tea, grabbing a box of cookies and going back to her room to read his adventures.

As they got older, he seemed to become more withdrawn in himself, and his entries slowly became more philosophical. But she wanted to understand him, so she’d often reread all his entries a few times. Yet, nothing could prepare her for the three simple words that awaited her on the last page.

_I like you._

It took her almost ten minutes to comprehend it, but she remembered jumping up and down in excitement and checking twenty times to make sure she read it right, before running to her father to check if she was seeing things – but when he confirmed it, Hui Fang’s heart wouldn’t stop racing.

So, she ran out the same day to buy a new notebook.

Well, she bought it the next day, because she couldn’t find a cute one in the only open shop at that time. It was actually hard to write what she wanted to tell him. She wanted to sound as smart as he did, she wanted to make sure it looks pretty, she wanted this and that…

But the more she tried, the more frustrated she got.

In the end, she decided she will give it to him in person.

Yet, Kiku never came back.

The whole summer, she waited pretty much at his doorstep. His grandparents asked her if she wanted to call him from their landline to ask him to come down. But she was too embarrassed to ask something from them because she didn’t want to force him to do something he didn’t want to do. She didn’t want to be that kind of girl.

Next year was really hard.

Her father was getting sick so she had to take care of him after school, and school was so hard. But she wanted to tell him everything. 

When the next summer rolled up, she really, truly, honestly hoped he’d be there. Hui Fang wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and hug him tightly and tell him that she likes him too, that she just…

Well, she wasn’t sure what she wanted.

But if her mother could leave Japan for her father, surely Hui Fang could leave Taiwan for Kiku?

Yet, the next summer… he also didn’t show. His grandmother told her that he’s doing exams so she just nodded. It was the first summer that she went home early.

A year after that, when she started university, her father passed. All alone, Hui Fang thought about going to her grandparent’s house. She’d take care of them, and then continue to live there. But her grandparents talked her into going to university.

However, her heart was always in that small summer town.

When Hui Fang landed in Okinawa, it was hard to find a car to drive her to the tiny summer town, but by the time she got there, it was pretty late. Thanking the driver once more, she emerged from the car.

An old man opened the door and Hui Fang could hear him chuckling as the young girl brought over her bag and threw her arms around the elderly man. He hugged her tightly, before looking her over. “Well. You are as beautiful as ever, my darling girl.” 

Hui Fang smiled softly to him, only to leave her bag at the door before taking out an old, slightly tattered notebook.

“Better hurry.”

Hui Fang looked up to her grandfather and gave him a small smile, hugging it tightly to her chest. “You think he still remembers me?” 

Her grandfather laughed and took her bag.

“Now, who could forget you?”

Feeling a small rush of courage at her grandfather’s words, Hui Fang turned on her heel and rushed back down to the road and hurried to the old house which she knew so well.

Once in front of their door, Hui Fang stopped for a few moments to gather her breath. Her bun fell apart during the trip, so her hair fell in loose waves down her back, her dress was loose anyway so you couldn’t really tell she was on a plane for so long… 

Hopefully, he recognizes her.

After a knock, Hui Fang took a step back and hugged her notebook to her chest, biting her lip nervously. What does she tell him? Hello? Hey? Good evening?

Possibilities are endless.

Oh, maybe this is all a very bad idea and she should make a run for it. 

Just as she was about to turn around and make a run for it, the door opened and she was now, face to face, with the man she loved for so long after many years.

Her breath ran away from her.

He was handsome just as she remembered but with an air of seriousness that always seemed to escape her. He looked like he had everything right and everything in place – not like her, a girl who hated her job and waited for a day she’d be free of it, a girl who wasn’t even sure she was on the right road.

Why was she doing this to him? He probably forgot all about her.

But if she doesn’t give him this notebook, she will never ever forgive herself.

So, with a small cough, she turns to him and hands him the notebook. “I-I wanted to give you this in person. I’m sorry it took so long.”

Finally, Kiku takes it and Hui Fang feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off her shoulders. She’s free. 

In the years in between their last visit, she lost her ability to read his face. Now, she couldn’t tell if he was glad to see her if he wanted her to leave if he even remembered who she was. Why would he? Her grandfather told her that he became a doctor, a successful one at that and that he seems to be happy.

What could she give him?

How could she ever compare to him?

So, she quickly nodded and turned on her heel. “Well! Good night!” She quickly said and hurried down the stairs to go to the road. Her face was completely red and she wasn’t sure if she should start running back home or if she should stop and look back to him.

Was she being a coward? Was she doing something so stupid, so incredibly stupid that she had to stop this very second, or should she…

Her mind was racing.

It all comes to a halt when she feels his fingers around her wrist and she turns to look at him.

His face is still really unreadable, but it looks… soft. His hair fell a little over his eyes, and he kept opening his mouth a little before closing it once more. She saw that he was still holding the notebook in his other hand, the open page showing what she wrote.

_I like you too!_

Her heart was pounding as she looked back up to him, seeing that he had pressed his lips together in a tight line. 

Hui Fang offered him a small smile, like how she did when she did something silly as a child.

The sun had set by now, and the crickets were chirping loudly as ever. But for her, it seemed like the world had stopped.

There was so much she wanted to tell him, so much she wanted him to know about what happened – and she wanted to know everything that happened behind those unreadable black eyes that even now made her heart flutter.

“After all this time?”

His question makes her giggle because he sounds so surprised. Of course, she wanted to yell. No matter when or where it was always Kiku for her. It was for him that she turned down every boy that ever confessed to her, he was the reason why she tried so hard to learn how to write in Japanese properly.

If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t have dropped everything and ran here to be with him.

“Always.”

Hui Fang watches his expression fall for a moment before he lets go of her wrist. Her heart almost shot out of her chest at that as she expected him to just turn around and leave. But he doesn’t.

He stays.

Gentle as ever, he moves his hand to gently cup her cheek. He’s hesitant, but he finally leans in and presses his lips to hers.

It was everything they both dreamed of.

**/**

On a small island, there’s a clinic. A clinic is run by a kind doctor who takes his time with every patient there. Beside the clinic is a flower shop which seems to always be in full bloom thanks to its cheerful owner.

People often comment on the odd couple that run the two establishments, but no one can deny that the two love each other.

Because, no matter how much time it takes, true love never grows old.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading! This story took me a little bit longer than I planned, but it is very dear to my heart. I hope you liked it!
> 
> Big thanks to Cookie for betaing! You can find her at: merciful-mercenary.tumblr.com!


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